Blue Ocean, Red Land
by Roaming Spirit
Summary: He does the forbidden and unforgivable to see the one who makes all of the cruel consequences seem like nothing but the wind passing by. Drama and might include Tragedy later on Rated T in case this story is continued. MerMako Merman Mako Makorra
1. Follow the Forbidden

A/N: So there's this thing on Tumblr about LoK/Disney crossovers. There's one about MerMako which is a crossover between The Little Mermaid. I thought it'd be cool to play around with the idea and so this piece of writing was born! I don't consider stories a crossover, though, unless they have characters from both stories. This only has characters from LoK with a mix of plot between The Little Mermaid and LoK (if I choose to continue this). So yeah...Enjoy!

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**~ Blue Ocean, Red Land ~**

**:oOo:**

The sky seems sullen and gray, clouds shadowing the sun, but promise the perfect winds for sailing. The puffin-gulls soar high into the atmosphere, some diving precariously near the cresting waves, yet their winged tipped feathers never quite touching the blue surface. Some cheetah-dolphins speed their way through the murky depths , occasionally launching themselves through the air with excited and gleeful clicks. Their joyous banter, however, is interrupted as they turn their attention to the regal ship sailing through the light fog and deciding to swim along it, curiosity making them fearless in the face of this new intruder of the seas.

Aboard the ship, merriment brew from all corners as the crew sings throughout their work.

"I'll tell you a tale of the bottomless blue, and it's hey to the starboard, heave-ho!"

"Look out, lad, a mermaid be waiting for you! In the mysterious fathoms below!"

The captain of the ship could not be found in the Captain's Quarters nor below in the Gun Deck to make sure all weapons and cannons are accounted for. The captain is found where excitement and adventure take place, in this case, out hanging from the rigging, enjoying the way the wind blows against her face with her tied hair flowing gently behind. She inhales the sweet scent of salty sea air, the spray from the sea slightly dampening her loose white shirt, sleeves rolled up to the elbow for easier movement. Although only a woman of her recent turning to seventeen, she is no daisy. One of the youngest and most revered captains of her time, she dives into situations head first, dangerous or not, with a brave heart to match. She never backs down from a challenge even when all hopes seems lost. And if that doesn't command her respect, she has the sharpest tongue in all of the land, many times found swearing like the sailor she is. Upon hearing barking on the main deck, she smiles and jumps from the rigging onto the floor. Within seconds, she's tackled by an enormous polar bear dog licking her face as she laughs.

"Hey, Naga! What's up girl?" she chuckles. The adorable creature barks happily in response before allowing her companion to stand. The captain rewards her with a quick scratch behind the ear.

"Isn't this great? I can finally have some downtime after all that training!" Her mood sobers a little when she remembers why she needs the rest. She had just come back from a very unseccessful and, to say the least, disappointing training session at the Southern Air Temple to learn airbending, the only element who seems to float away from her finger tips before she can grab it. Frustrated, she decided that it was time for a break, which is why she is heading to one of the many areas pertaining to her reign, a small but grand town near the outskirts of the Earth Kingdom where a palace stands in its center. As a child, she used to come here with her parents on vacations. The place always felt like home to her, a place where she can unwind.

But her mood picks up again once she hears the sounds of the sea creatures and the waves crashing against the hull, reminding her that for now, she doesn't have to worry about anything except having fun. As she walks across the deck, some of the crew members halt their work to offer a smile or quick wave to which she returns. She rolls her eyes when she passes by a particularly short and rotund man bent over the side of the ship retching. She jogs over and slaps him heartily on the back, causing him to let out a surpised "Oof!"

"Perfect day to be at sea, ay, Toza?" she jests, knowing she's poking fun at him. He lifts his head up and glares at her.

"It'd be perfect if there was no sea," he grumbles before sea sickness takes over and he's retching once again. She laughs.

"A fine strong wind and a following sea! Queen Lin must be in a friendly type mood!" says one of the crew members as he struggles to pull a cordage onto a hook. The captain rushes over and tugs on the rope, tying it in a secure figure of eight knot on the hook. His comment peaks her interest.

"Queen Lin?"

"Why, ruler of the Merpeople, las. Thought every good sailor knew about her," another crew member says while hauling fish onto the ship. Toza, having finally finished his retching, comes up beside the captain and rolls his eyes with a disbelieving grunt.

"Pfft. Merpeople. Don't pay 'em any attention, Princess Korra," he grumbles. Korra tilts her head toward him with an annoyed look.

"I told you, Korra is fine. I don't need that prissy title attached to my name." She turns away to play with Naga before she sees one of Toza's rare smiles grace his features. He does in fact know she doesn't like being called such, but sometimes he can't help himself. After her parents died-her father lost his life while trying to personally end a gang war between the Red Monsoons and the Triple Threat Triad (a selfless man and best friend of Toza's) and her mother died in the midst of a terrible case of leukemia-she was left in his care, since he was the king's advisor, by the age of ten. Ever since then he's come to think of her as his own daughter, his little _princess. _She reminds him of her father so much; her passion for sailing, excelling in martial arts training. But the more predominant features are that of her mother. So strong willed, stubborn, brave, selfless. That woman could strike fear into the strongest of men with one look.

After Naga runs off to where ever she does, Korra climbs over and sits at the base of the bowsprit, undaunted in the slightest at knowing that she could easily slip and fall into the water and possibly be crushed under the ship's massive hull.

"Merpeople," she whispers to herself while she plays with a small flame in her hand. Her mind wraps around the word, twisting it all sorts of different ways in her interest. She shrugs before smiling.

"I'd believe in them."

She closes her eyes and enjoys the crew's voices singing while the cool breeze ruffles her hair.

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Below, the sea is teeming with life. Flashes of fins every color under the sun could be seen zipping by as they all head in generally the same direction. Excitement electrifies the water as Merpeople from all over the underwater kingdom of Republic City rush to get the best seats in the house to watch today's pro-bending match. But not any old team was going to play. This time, the queen's very own sons are competing! Everyone wants to see how they would fare against the White Falls Tigerseals, a team that hasn't been beaten so far in the season. Rumor has it that their lightning bender once attacked so fiercely that all three of the opposing team had month long bruises from where they were hit, even with the shock proof uniforms!

Inside the arena, the trumpets sound as Queen Lin, loved and respected by all of the Merpeople in the kingdom, rides in on her giant-shelled chariot, pulled in by three cheetah dolphins. The crowd is sent into a frenzy of cheers and applause as she waves to them. Beside her is a small crab with blue tattoes running across it's body. Once the chariot is settled into its proper place above the crowd with a clear view of the arena, she leans over and asks in a stern yet friendly tone, "How are my boys doing during the practices, Tenzin?"

The crab turns toward her with a forced smile.

"Wonderful! Absolutely wonderful! Hasook's waterbending can rival the best of fighters and Bolin's earthbending has improved suberbly-"

"And Mako?" she cuts him off with a raised eyebrow.

"A prodigy as usual." She gives an approving nod before turning her attention towards the arena. Truthfully, Tenzin had no care for the art of pro-bending, finding it to be a mockery of the gifts and talents that these people had. But he would often sit in at practices and admire they boys' team work. He sometimes even finds himself giving them tips, much to his surprise. His real job, though, is to look after Mako. He used to be an orphan, making a living by getting his hands on whatever he could reach, whether it was his or not. Tenzin had once found him attempting to grab one of the queen's jewels when she wasn't looking. Infuriated, he sent a gust of air through the water, causing him to land smack in front of the queen. He had attempted to swim away, but guards blocked his path. The boy was eleven at the time and terrified. Lin, however, after giving him a stern scolding, smiled kindly and offered him a spot in the family.

From there, she introduced him to pro-bending and he's been immersed in it all his life. It soon became his passion. But prodigy or not, that boy can get into _trouble! _It was skill alone that got him by because he always showed up late at practices, often causing Tenzin to wonder just where did he swim off to this time. But the thought is always dismissed as nothing more than the life of a teenage boy. He is eighteen after all.

The crowd hushes as the announcer rises from the center.

"In this corner we have the White Falls Tigerseals!" The crowd goes wild as the announcer counts off the names in the team, each bender appearing from the hidden stand that rises from beneath the arena as their name is called.

"And in this corner we have the amazing Fire Ferrets! Hasook!" He gives one wave to the roaring crowd as he rises up.

"Bolin!" Bolin, more of the type to cash in on the love, dramatically cups his ear in one hand as some of the fangirls shout his name.

"Mako!" The stand rises to reveal...no one. The crowd gasps in shock at his absence. Tenzin's eyes seem to pop out of his head as his gaze shifts nervously from the empty stand to the rage indused Lin. Unable to contain her anger any longer, she shouts in a thundering voice.

"MAKO!"

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A young boy, no older than eighteen, peers over the mast of a sunken ship, excitedly. He has a lean yet muscular built and a small red cloth tied to his upper right arm. He's had it ever since his father gave it to him in his final moments, something to keep him safe. His amber eyes widen with interest as he devours the sight before him, his short, black, spiked hair wavering slightly in the water.

"Mako! Bro, wait up!" Mako rolls his eyes in slight annoyance. He turns around and motions with his head.

"Hurry up, Bolin!" A muscularly built, handsome lad of sixteen comes up to his brother out of breath, his bright green tail and eyes drooping from exhaustion. On his shoulder is a pentapus ranging from different shades of red.

"You. Know...I can't. Swim that fast!" he pants. Mako ignores his brother's complaint and points toward another sunken ship in the distance.

"There it is, bro," Mako says in awe, his eyes glinting. Bolin shifts about nervously, not quite comfortable with the eerie scenery before them.

"Yeah, it's great. Listen, can we go now? Mom's already mad enough that you didn't show up for today's match-"

"Ah, she'll get over it," Mako waves him off impatiently. "C'mon." The two brothers swim over to the ship, Bolin more reluctant than his red tailed sibling. As the two get closer, his stomach begins to twist in fearful knots. It wasn't his fault that he was taught not to go near human things. That fear was intilled in him long ago by his mother and reenforced by Hasook's pranks with humans and their monstrosities being the center point of each when they were younger.

"Hey, um, Pabu," he holds out the pentapus, "yeah, I think I forgot to feed him and I think-I think I might be coming down with something. See I got this real nasty cough," Bolin coughs dramatically so his excuse to not go into the ship may be believable. Mako rolls his eyes, an amused smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

"No problem. I'll go inside and you can stay out here on the look out for lionsharks," he smirks before going through a jagged hole in the hull of the ship.

"Okay, okay. You go and I'll stay and-" Bolin says in his haste to stay outside, not realizing what his brother had said until a few seconds later.

"Sharks? Mako!" he yells diving in after his brother, Pabu once again secure on his shoulder. In reality, Bolin is a pretty strong guy, afraid of very few things, but lionsharks...those things can become some pretty nasty dudes. He accidentally crashes into his brother, receiving an annoyed glare.

"Sorry," he whispers sheepishly. Once again, the brothers begin to swim around the ship, Mako looking for note worthy treasures to take back.

"Do you really think there are lionsharks here?" Bolin whispers as his eyes roam the expanse of the ship.

"Don't be such a guppy." Slightly offended, Bolin puffs out his chest and flexes his arms to seem intimidating.

"I'm not!" The two swim in silence for awhile until Mako catches sight of something that glimmers. He swims over to it and picks it up. It's a small object, no longer than his hand with one end separating into three small spikes.

"Isn't this cool?" he says, showing it to Bolin.

"It's amazing! But, uh, what is it?" Mako shrugs.

"I don't know, but I bet Jinora and the others will." Mako puts the strange object in his tattered bag before rummaging around for more things. Bolin's about to try and convince Mako that they should probably get going when a shadow passes over him. He whips around but sees nothing.

"Did you see something?" he asks quietly. Mako ignores him and picks up another odd object shaped like a smaller version of the coral saxophones.

"Mako!" Bolin whines, convinced that there's something else among them. Mako lets out a frustrated sigh.

"Bolin, relax! Nothing's gonna happen." Despite his brother's confidence, Bolin sees the shadow pass again, coming from directly behind him. Afraid to come to terms with what he already knew, he turns around slowly, his eyes widening in horror when he sees just what exactly caused the shadows.

"SHARK! SHARK! I'M GONNA DIE!" he yells as the monstrous beast begins to chase him around the ship. The commotion catches Mako's attention and soon he's dashing off as well, terror sending every nerve in his body into a frenzy. Bolin crashes into him, causing Mako to let out a grunt of surprise. He sees the lionshark's jaws open wide as it closes in on them. Both brothers duck underneath it and race away, the animal almost nicking their tail fins.

"WE'RE GONNA DIE, WE'RE GONNA DIE, WE'RE GONNA DIE!" Bolin screams as the shark suddenly appears in front of them. Mako pushes Bolin ahead of him just as the shark lunges forward, missing him by a few lucky inches. The beast begins chomping through the wooden floors of the ship as the brothers swim frantically away. Suddenly Mako's bag gets caught on an upturned plank. He snaps his head up to the the shark mere feet away. Leaving that bag is out of the question! Inside are treasures only few Merpeople will ever witness, his only connection to the world above the water's surface. He'd be crazy if he left it. With a sudden burst of speed, he dives for the bag and swims away right when the lionshark bites down on the upturned plank.

Bolin and Mako make sharp turns here and there trying to shake the creature off, but it's relentless in its thirst for blood. Mako suddenly spots a small gap, just big enough for him and Bolin to squeeze through but not the shark.

"In there!" he shouts. They dive through, bursting out into the open sea. Not a second later did the massive lionshark break through the wood. Bolin screams in terror as they swim in circles up the ship's mast, the shark's jaws chomping repeatedly. In their rush to get away, Bolin crashes head first into a wooden beam. The impact disorients him as he sinks through the water, muttering incoherent words. The sharks jaws crush the wooden beam before diving down towards Bolin. Sensing Bolin was no longer behind him, Mako turns around to see him sinking with the shark quickly following suit.

He dives down, sparks of electricity dancing on his fingertips before he lets the bolt of lightning shoot out and hit its target right in the nose and causing it to falter, giving Mako just enough time to snatch his brother away. The shark soon recovers, though, and races again for its meal. Fully oriented, Bolin high tails it through the ring of an anchor with Mako close behind. Just when sharp white teeth were about to sink themselves into Mako's fins, the shark jerks back violently. Both brothers turn around to see the lionshark's head stuck in the ring.

Bolin swims up to it smirking cockily. Angry, the shark snaps its jaws wide, causing Bolin to emit a, "Woah!" before swimming off to the surface where his brother was headed.

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Three sea gulls are perched on a jutted rock in the water. One lies calmly on her back while another keeps pestering her with questions, barely finishing one before starting the other. The youngest of them all, looks through his telescope the wrong way.

"Jinora! Meelo! Ikki!" The eldest one picks up her head and spots two boys swimming over.

"Mermen entering my domain!" Meelo shouts, seeing them at a far off distance. When he puts down his telescope, though, his eyes widen in surprise to see both boys right in front of him. Ikki flaps over to them excitedly.

"Ooh! Did you find anything? Did ya? Did ya? Did ya?" Mako laughs at Ikki's enthusiasm.

"Yeah-"

"We went into this old ship and a lionshark chased us, but, you know, I wasn't scared or anything," Bolin recounts, flexing his arm muscles. Mako raises an eye brow at him.

"Human stuff?" Jinora asks thoughtfully. Mako nods. She wobbles over to him and takes the object with the spikes in her wing.

"What is it?"

Jinora examines it closely.

"It's a...dinglehopper!" Mako's eyebrows furrow at the strange word.

"A dinglehopper?" Humans have such weird names for their stuff.

"Yeah!" Ikki comes up and takes it from her sister's hand. "Humans use it to comb and brush and style their hair into all sorts of patterns!" She grabs Meelo and uses the spiked end to twirl the feathers on his head into a fluffy mess. "See?"

"What about this thing?" Bolin asks, taking out the small coral saxophone-like object.

"This," Meelo says, "Is a snarfblat. Humans used to stare at each other all day doing nothing until this came. It makes muuuuuusic!" he stretches out the 'u' for emphasis. He blows on it only to choke on bits and pieces of seaweed and sand. Mako chuckles at the sputtering sea gull as it collapses in an exhausted heap.

"I'm hungry!" Bolin suddenly shouts, rubbing his stomach.

"When are you not?" Mako snickers.

"Hey! I'm a growing boy!" he pouts. Mako sighs.

"Yeah, we better get going. Mom's gonna kill me anyway." They bid their goodbyes to Jinora, Ikki, and Meelo before swimming under the water's surface once again. However, niether are aware of two pairs of eyes watching them from a dark corner of a reef nearby as the brothers swim home.

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Two eels swim over into a cave in the darker depths of the ocean.

"What have you learned?" calls a voice from within the cave.

"It look's like the boy's interest in the human world is growing," says one of the eels.

"Excellent, Lieutenant. Hiroshi," the other eel comes forth. "I need you and Lieutenant to keep a close eye on him. That boy is very key in our fight for equality." The faint light that filter's through the cave opening sheds a small glitter of light on the figure of the voice. More predominantly, the blood red dot on his mask.

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Bolin waits a few yards away from the throne room while his mother scolds Mako yet again.

"I just don't know what I'm going to do with you anymore-!"

"Mom, I'm sorry. I just forgot-" Mako tries, but Queen Lin won't hear any of it.

"As a result of your careless behavior-"

"Careless and reckless behavior!" Tenzin quips angrily from atop Lin's head. Mako crosses his arms and rolls his eyes, annoyed at all the fuss. It was just one match.

"The entire celebration was-"

"Well, it was ruined!" Tenzin cuts her off again sharply. "That's all! Completely destryed! This pro-bending match was important to your brothers _and _your mother! Now, no thanks to you I'll have to compensate for Hasook's outburst-"

Bolin has just about heard enough and angrily swims to his brother's defence.

"It wasn't his fault!" A glare from Lin humbles him, though. "Uh, first, uh, this lionshark, and um, it-" his mother's glowering wasn't making his defence very convincing. "And then this sea gull came..."

Lin's eyes widen in surprise.

"Sea gull?" Bolin quickly covers his mouth, receiving a glare from Mako.

"I'll just quietly stand over here, completely silent," he mumbles swimming a few feet off, knowing that one of mom and Mako's famous showdowns was about to happen.

"You went up to the surface again, didn't you?" Lin gets up from her throne with a start. No answer from Mako. "Didn't you?" she asks more forcefully. Mako lets out an exasperated sigh.

"Nothing happened!"

"How many times must we go through this! You could've been seen by one of those barbarians, by one of those _humans!" _She spits out the last word with disgust.

"Mom, they're not barbarians! They're-" Mako's rage starts to boil up, threatening to spill.

"They're dangerous! What mother wants to see her son snared by some fish eater's net?"

"I'm eighteen years old! I'm not a kid anymore for Agni's sake!" he yells venomously.

"Don't you dare take that tone of voice with me young man!" Mako begins to protest, but Lin cuts him off. "As a matter of fact, as long as you live under my ocean, you'll obey my rules!"

"But if you would just listen-!"

"Not another word!" she booms turning away. "And I am never, _never, _to hear of you going to the surface again! Is that clear?" Her voice thunders as she looks back at her son's face, fire burning in his amber eyes.

"Fine!" he yells before swimming away, Bolin following close behind. Mako didn't have the heart to insult his mother. After all, she was the one who gave him everything when he had nothing.

Lin settles back into her throne, her brows furrow in a mask of disapproval. But she really does feel awful for having to speak in that manner with her son. She never really liked arguing with him.

"Teenagers. They think they know everything," Tenzin chastises. "Why, if Mako was my son, I'd teach him a good lesson about discipline, none of this 'flitting to the surface' nonsense." Lin's eyes brighten at the idea Tenzin was giving her.

"You're right Tenzin. Mako needs constant supervision, someone to watch over him, to keep him out of trouble, and _you _are just the crab to do it!" Tenzin followed along enthusiastically, in complete consent of what Lin was saying until he completely deflated at the last part. Having the right sense not to contradict the queen, he crawls away to fulfill his new task, grumbling about how his job was to be an advisor not a babysitter when he suddenly spots Mako and his brother. Both seem tense and alert before they quickly swim off. Suspicion takes over and Tenzin follows.

"What is that boy up to?"

He follows them for what seems like ages, trying desperately to keep up until he collapses onto a rock, panting heavily. He sees them roll over a large stone before they slip into the entrance of what seems to be a grotto. Before the stone seals the entrance, Tenzin slips in silently, his legs getting caught between the stone and the entrance's frame. He uses a lone sea weed to tug himself free, the force sending him bouncing into an object filled with sand. Looking up, his eyes pop out of his skull as his jaw hits the floor. The entire grotto was filled to the brim with human things. _Human _things!

Mako lies on his back on a jutted rock, one arm behind his head, the other turning the dinglehopper for closer examination. Bolin stands off to the side, genuinely concerned about his brother's well being.

"You okay, bro?"

Mako sighs.

"Why can't she understand? I just don't see things the way she does. I mean, how could a world that created this," he holds out the dinglehopper, "be bad?" Mako asks more to himself than his brother. "Just look at this stuff! I've practically got everthing I've ever wanted down here."

"So why are so bummed out?" Bolin asks, placing a hand oh his shoulder. Mako's silent for a moment before putting down his dinglehopper.

"Because it doesn't matter. I want...I want more than this. I want to be up there, where all the people are, you know?" he casts a side long glance to his brother. Bolin, for the life of him, couldn't and probably would never understand his brother's fascination with the surface world, but Mako was more of a brother than Hasook ever was. He always protected him when they were younger. Hasook just liked to torture him. Either way, he'd support Mako and his strange dreams, even if he didn't quite grasp them.

"I want to see them up close, dancing and walking on those, um, what are they called again?"

"Foots?"

"Feet," Mako corrects his brother with a smile. Tenzin, having found a spot where he won't be seen rolls his eyes at the notion of having feet. But he sets about again, deciding to explore his collection. One item enlarges his reflection and catches him off guard, causing him to fall inside another object of sorts.

"Man, what I would give to be up there like them," Mako continues. "I betcha up there they don't treat their sons like kids." Bolin chuckles at this, receiving a playful punch in the arm. Meanwhile, Tenzin rolls around in his object, terrified of his confinement.

"You think our bending will be different up there?" Mako asks. Bolin shrugs.

"Maybe. I've always felt-" He's interrupted by a loud crash. Both boys turn to the source of the sound, simultaneously exclaiming the intruder's name.

"Tenzin!"

The crab splutters before he can actually pronounce words and even then it's not much improvement.

"Mako! What are you-How could you-What is all this?" he shouts angrily. His patience always wears thin around this boy.

"My collection. What else?" Mako answers rudely. Tenzin looks calm for a moment, almost as if his patience has magically returned. That is, until he blows up again.

"IF YOUR MOTHER KNEW ABOUT THIS PLACE-!" Bolin quickly swims over worriedly.

"You're not gonna tell her, are you?" he pleads. At the mention of his mother, Mako gets up and faces Tenzin with a pleading expression, something he rarely ever does.

"C'mon Tenzin. You know she'll never understand." Tenzin smiles kindly and takes one of his hands in his pincers gently.

"Come. You're under a lot of pressure down here..." Mako stops paying attention when he sees something shadow over the hole in the top of the grotto. In complete and utter awe, he forgets about Tenzin and swims out of the grotto.

"Mako?"

Completely ignorant of Tenzin's presence, he swims toward the surface. Bolin gives Tenzin a sympathetic look, shrugs, and follows his brother.

Mako's head breaks the surface. His jaw hangs open slightly at the explosions of light in the sky ccoming from a nearby ship. It was amazing! He's never seen anything like it in his life. He's vaguely aware of his brother popping up beside him and Tenzin exclaiming something about jelly fish when he sees the exploding lights. Curiosity kicks in and soon Mako's swimming towards the ship, ignoring Tenzin's frantic calls to go back.

Once he reaches the hull, he grabs onto it and hauls himself up onto a ledge where he can see what's going on up on the deck without being spotted. His eyes widen in amazement at seeing humans this close. All of them are smiling and dancing, some using weird things to make noises that sounded like a foreign kind of music to Mako's ears. In the center of it all, is a rather large animal, whom he recognizes to be a polar bear dog, jumping and barking about the humans gleefully. The humans' joy is contagious for Mako found himself smiling as well.

Suddenly, the polar bear dog begins sniffing the air. It continues to follow a scent that leads right where Mako is! He turns away, afraid of being spotted by the huge animal. When he turns back, he's face to face with the creature. Without warning, it licks his cheek. Mako smiles and tentatively reaches out a hand to touch it. But before he could do so, Mako hears a few whistles and a feminine voice speak.

"Naga! Come here girl!"

And just like that, the dog was gone. Mako peers onto the deck once again and follows the polar bear dog to a person. It keeps bouncing around her legs before it begins to feverishly lick her face. She laughs heartily, petting the dog's furry head. Mako is awe struck. Never before in his life has he seen any one so beautiful. Her blue eyes told stories filled with mischief, her dark chocolate hair tied in what he knew to be water tribe hair pieces. She had the built of a mermaid from the waist up; an athletic back with shoulders and arms to match, waist curved in slightly before it rounded out as her hips. But from the waist down, she wore some sort of black cloth that covered her legs, the things that fascinated him the most about humans.

"Good girl, good girl," she spoke gently to the dog.

Mako is transfixed by her. He knew he fell and he fell for her _hard. _

"Hey there, Mako! What are you doing?" comes Ikki's voice right above him. Mako waves the bird off in annoyance, afraid that the humans would discover him.

"Quiet Ikki!" Meelo comes up and slides in next to Mako.

"Oh I get, I get it," he says, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. We're going under cover," he whispers. "PRISON BR-!" He's abruptly interrupted by a hand clamping tightly over his beak. Mako sets his gaze back on the girl. Right now, she's dancing around the dog while playing a merry tune on a long stock with small holes carved into it.

"I've never seen humans this close before," he whispers in his trance. Ikki notices Mako's expression towards the girl and smiles mischieviously.

"Oooo, Mako's got a crush on the pretty sailor," she taunts. Mako snaps his head away and glares at her, albeit his cheeks flushed a deep shade of crimson.

"She looks kinda ugly 'da me," Meelo says, scrunching up his beak in distaste at the polar bear dog. Jinora comes up beside Mako, shakes her head, and sighs.

"Not that one, Meelo! The one playing the weird looking snarfblat," she says pointing at the human girl. Meelo releases a long, drawn out 'oh' in realization. A few seconds later, a shorter, rotund, male human saunters in.

"Alright, alright! Hold the rum for a second," he walks to the center with a proud smile, "I'd like to present a special gift to the very talented and esteemed Avatar, Princess Korra." He winks at the last few words. Korra, who is sitting on a barrel with crossed arms, rolls her eyes in mock annoyance. The man motions toward an enormous object covered in a faded sheet.

"Toza," she pats him roughly on the back, almost making him lose his footing, "you shouldn't have!"

"I know," he turns away with a smirk. "Happy birthday, Korra." One of the crew members comes up and pulls away the sheet, revealing a statue of Korra in a galliant pose. In one arm, a sword is outstretched toward the sky; in the othe other is a shield with the letter 'K' on it. She seems to be dressed in fine metal armor, all four elements surrounding her. Korra is taken aback by the statue, immediately disapproving of the way she is portrayed. She hears a growl from Naga. Even she finds the statue...unapealing.

She stands up from the barrel and awkwardly makes her way over to it.

"Wow, it's a...um," she coughs, buying time to find the right words. "It's really something," she smiles, hoping Toza is buying the act.

"Yup, thought of doing this beauty myself," he says proudly. "Of course, I was hoping it would be an Airbending Mastery gift," he grumbles, eyeing Korra. She waves him off and walks over to sit on the railing of the ship.

"Yeah, well, it just didn't work out, okay? Maybe I'm just not cut out to be an airbender. I can get by perfectly fine on three elements." Toza scowls. "If anything, maybe what I need to learn is metalbending or...someone to teach me how to lighteningbend!" Just as she says that, a flash of light illuminates the clouds up ahead.

"Hurricane a' comin'! Turn fast! Secure the rigging!" shouts the lookout from the crow's nest. Below the ship, the waves begin to grow, slamming against the hull of the ship, the wind picks up speed, and rain soon begins to pour from the cloudy night sky. Korra's eyes widen before she rushes off to grab some of the cordage connected to the sails and pulls to fasten them shut. The rain quickly begins to pound her skin and blur her vision. She hears the terrified yelps of her crew members as they teeter precariously on the mast of the ship.

Sensing the trouble, Bolin and Tenzin spring into action and begin to swim towards the ship. Mako is holding on for dear life as the ship jostles about. His hands keep slipping before he could regain a firm hold and pull himself up again. Jinora, Ikki, and Meelo hold on to a taut piece of rope in order to keep from hurtling into the air.

"The wind is definitely on a move here!" Jinora shouts, barely heard above the thunderous booms and howling winds. A second later, she and her siblings are ripped from the rope they once held onto.

On the ship, disaster is every where. The helmsman struggles against the wheel of the ship before he's swept away by the wind and onto the deck. Korra stumbles up the slippery floor and grabs the wheel, pulling it in the right direction with all of her strength against the current. The ship dips dangerously low and an enormous wave crashes onto the deck and slams her to the railing of the ship. Ignoring the searing pain her back, she waterbends the excess water out of the ship before her crew became fatally injured.

Mako's grip on the ship loosens as the storm tugs him forcefully away. Soon he's spiraling into the air and splashes into the ocean. He quickly swims back up to the surface, desparate to know if the humans will be able to surpass the storm. To his horror, he sees a flash of lightning strike one of the open sails, setting it aflame.

On deck it's chaos. The crew members are barking orders at each other, slipping and sliding down the ship as the wind blows them over like toothpicks. The cold water chills them all to the bone, the thunder so loud that they can't even hear themselves think, let alone hear each other. Korra looks up through the blinding rain to see one of the sails set on fire, the flames burning at the wooden mast.

"Look out!" she shouts above the storm as the mast timbers onto the deck, splintering the wooden floor boards. The crew is sent into a frenzy as they run about looking for cover. Korra's once again knocked off her feet when the ship crashes into a sea bed of jutting rocks. The impact causes some of the crew to fall over board and into the frigid, unforgiving waters below. She quickly gets up and dives for the one lifeboat that hasn't been lost and orders the remaining crew to climb on. Within seconds the small boat lands in the ocean with a splash. Korra swipes at the hair in her face to see a figure bobbing up and down in the water nearby.

"Toza! Hang on!" She grabs him by his neck collar and hauls him aboard. Suddenly, she hears barking abover her. Her head snaps upward toward the burning ship to see Naga barking furiously.

"Naga!" Korra's heart twists in fear. She couldn't let her best friend die. Not in this life time! She'll never forgive herself if something happened to her faithful companion. Without giving it another thought, she dives into the turbulent water. At first she's jostled around pretty badly, disoriented to no end. But the reasonable part of her brain kicks in and she waterbends herself against the current. She reaches the small wooden ledges on the side of the ship and begins to climb, her drenched clothes making it a strain to pull herself up with the extra weight from the water. Burning debris fall from the ship, some of it singeing her clothes, others creating fresh cuts that sting terribly with the salt water.

Still she keeps climbing, relentless in making sure she got to her beloved polar bear dog. Hopping aboard, she looks up to see the main mast begin to fall toward her. Korra dives out of the way in the nick of time. She pushes down the terror threatening to overcome her senses. All she sees is rain and fire, all she hears is thunder and the howling wind, all she smells is smoke and salt, making it harder to breathe. Her chest heaves with the effort. She whips her head around frantically searching for Naga.

Barking rings in her ears as she finds Naga one level above her. She waves around frantically.

"Jump, Naga! Come on girl, you can do it! Jump!" she shouts. Naga whines and paces before doing as she's told. She lands with a thud beside Korra and takes off running with Korra pushing her to go faster. Out of nowhere, Korra's foot breaks through some loose floorboards and she screams in pain, pretty sure her ankle broke. Naga turns around and begins to whine while moving towards her.

"No, Naga!" she forces out through the pain. The frightened creature refuses to leave her behind. Korra, desparate to get Naga to safety, picks up pieces of wood and begins to throw it at her.

"Go girl! I'll be fine! GO!"

Frightened and confused at her master's reaction, Naga jumps into the water.

Korra struggles to get up and tries to pull her foot free from the jagged hole, the sharp edges from the wood piercing her skin and drawing blood. Her vision blurs and her head feels light. The fire seems to be closing in on her and she uses a hand to put out the flames with her waterbending. It's done in vain as more and more wood begins to burn.

"Korra!" Toza calls from below on the life boat while hauling Naga up. She looks up before hearing a crackling sound. Her heart beat stops when she sees the barrels of gun powder behind her and a steady flame travel toward it. It was the last thing she saw before the ship exploded and sent her into oblivion.

Mako witnesses the entire thing and feels cold fingers grip at his insides. Without a moment's hesitation, he dives under water, somehow knowing that the human is still alive. She has to be! His head pops above the surface once more, swiveling back and forth among the flotsam of debris in the water. Relief fills him briefly when he sees the unconscious human clinging onto a piece of wood before slipping under the black water. Relief gone. Mako quickly dives under, grabbing her from under her arms and swimming up to the surface. He knew humans couldn't breathe underwater like Merpeople could. She would surely die if he didn't bring her up for air soon.

His head bursts through the surface along with the human in his arms as he swims away from the wrecked ship as fast as he could towards land. He could still hear the colorful explosions ringing in his ears.

.

.

.

By the time Mako reaches land, morning has come and he is exhausted. After pulling the human up on the shore, a safe distance away from the water's reach, he collapses next to her. Once he catches his breath, he sets about on making sure she is alive. The thing is that, he didn't know how to tell if humans were alive or not. He gingerly brushes aside a few strands of hair away from her face, the small scratches marring her features did nothing to lessen her beauty. Ikki, Meelo, and Jinora flap down next to her head.

"Is...Is she alive?" Mako whispers, not bearing the thought of her dead. Jinora examines her face with a wing to her chin.

"It's hard to say." Ikki waddles over and puts her head to the human's feet, listening for a pulse. Her face falls when she hears none.

"You're not gonna like this, Mako-" she begins solemnly before being interrupted by Mako's relieved and excited voice.

"No, look! She's breathing!" Indeed she is. He could see the slight rise and fall of her chest and hear her deep breaths. Mako is again transfixed by her. _Breathtaking, _he thinks. He hesitantly reaches out a hand and tilts her face towards him, his nerves jumping around in quite a tizzy. He tries to remember what the short male human called her, playing around with a few different names before remembering the right one.

"Korra..." he whispers, enjoying how the word feels on his tongue. He absentmindedly caresses her face, just admiring what lay before him. He is unaware of Bolin and Tenzin washing up on the shallow waters behind him, equally as exhausted. But when Tenzin looks up to see Mako near the human, his jaw drops to the floor, exhaustion replaced by utter shock. Jinora comes up and pats him on the back.

"Isn't it romantic," she says dreamily.

At this point, Korra begins to feel the sun beating down on her face. She smiles slightly at the feeling of a warm touch on her cheek and lifts a hand to hold it weakly in her grasp. Her eyes flutter open slightly to see the handsome face of a teenage boy smiling sheepishly down at her. She catches a glimpse of red fabric on his arm and hears the quietest of murmurs mention her name. Those two things are automatically engrained in her memory. From the distance, she hears barking and Toza calling her name. Apparently, so did the boy. His head turns away alarmed before he disappears from her sight. A second later, Korra's face is licked by a slobbery tongue. She gets up slowly on her elbows, her muscles aching and sore as Naga jumps into the shallow water barking after something.

Toza grabs her by the arms and helps her up.

"You just love messing with my blood pressure, don't you?" he says bitterly, but only out of love for his 'daughter'. Korra gets up, shakes her head, and ignores him, too dazed to think about anything but the handsome lad.

"The boy..." she whispers, "rescued me." Her legs are still too weak to support her and her body is beyond exhaustion as she collapses into Toza's arms. He wraps one arm around his neck and supports her weight on him.

"I think you might've swallowed a bit too much sea water," he smirks before mumbling something about hormonal teenagers and their illusions. They limp along the shore, Korra glancing back every once in a while.

"Yeah, I might have been hallucinating a bit," she mutters half heartedly, still dazed. A part of her, though, can't help but feel like the handsome boy was...

Real.

**:oOo:**

* * *

A/N: So what ya think? Should I continue this or leave it as a one-shot? It all depends on the reviews this baby gets. Criticism is accepted as well as praise.


	2. Meet Unknown

A/N: Sorry for the month long absense, but life isn't as easy as I wish it was.

* * *

"Amon, sir, we have new intel. on the boy," replies the Lieutenant as he slithers through the water and into the cave.

"Yes?"

"It seems he is developing romantic feelings towards a human girl whom he saved from a storm last night," Hiroshi answers instead.

"The girl is the Avatar, sir." At this, Amon's head perks up. He chuckles darkly.

"So the young prince has fallen in love with the Avatar...boys, our work has minimized to only a small percentage."

.

.

.

Mako enters his room, which he shares with his other two brothers, and doesn't even notice Hasook's voice booming into his ear angrily. All he can think about is the human girl he saved. Her beautiful face, her eyes, oh Agni were they beautiful. They were as blue as the ocean at night, but during the day they became an icy sky blue. Mako remembers the way the sunlight glistened on her skin and the way she smiled when she had just begun to wake up. He now regrets shying away when he heard other humans approaching. He wanted her to see him too, but fear outdid his curiosity as he sought refuge back in the sea.

"Mako! Mako? Are you even listening!" Hasook shouts angrily. He's still mad about Mako's absence at the pro-bending match. That night was his moment to shine and once again show the public as well as his mother who was the more talented brother of the three. And Mako ruined it by not showing up!

Bolin wakes up, startled by Hasook's yelling. His eyes widen in surprise to see Mako, who usually ends up pummeling Hasook at this point, completely calm and, dare he say it, happy. But that can't be right. The only time when Mako ever smiles is when there's a pro-bending match or he's out looking for human things. Well, he didn't go to the pro-bending match last night and he seemed pretty down when mom found out he went to the surface...the surface! The humans!

The girl!

Hasook, having reached the point beyond anger to confusion at Mako's passiveness, turns to Bolin and sees him sporting a cheeky smile.

"What's gotten into him? It's like he's...got a crush!" Hasook smirks cockily, looking to Bolin for confirmation and receiving a very enthusiastic nod. Finally! His lil' bro was growing up to be a man! Plus, this gave him two benefits: talking to Mako about women and their...assets, and teasing him to no end on his current guppy love.

"So, how is she, huh? Does she have a nice rack? Did you 'do the deed' yet? Is she a screamer?" Hasook prods. Those questions snap Mako out of his thoughts as he glares at his perverted brother.

"What's wrong with you? And it's none of your business!" he retorts before swimming away. Hasook laughs anyway, not missing the dark crimson on his cheeks and ears. Although embarrassed, Mako's disgusted at his brother. Leave it to him to comment in the dirtiest way possible on just about anything.

Finding a secluded spot on the outskirts of the kingdom, Mako tries to clear his head and relax while Tenzin paces underneath him, muttering words he couldn't hear. All he could think about was the human, Korra. She seems to be permanently burned into his memory.

"I have to see her again," he says more to himself than the stressed crab below him. Tenzin swims up with a stern look.

"Oh no, Mako. It's my job to keep you safe and that's exactly what I'm going to do...the surface is out of the question!"

"But-"

"No buts! Just be patient. You're only going through a phase. Before you know it, the surface will become as boring as a rock to you..." Tenzin rambles on, snapping his pincers here and there every once in a while. Mako rolls his eyes. Tenzin could be so uptight sometimes.

"...going up there would be an unforgivable mistake...you belong here..."

Mako's thoughts wander back to Korra as he blocks out Tenzin's voice. How would he get to her?

"...and another thing..." Now his back's turned as he continues to ramble.

Well, he could ask Jinora and the others to find out where she's staying. Yeah, yeah! And then Ikki and Meelo could get her alone and lead her to the shore so he won't have to risk coming in contact with anymore humans. Yes! His plan is perfect. He's brought out of his thoughts when Bolin swims up to him and whispers in his ear so Tenzin won't notice. Mako nods enthusiastically before swimming off with his brother.

"So now do you understand?" Tenzin asks when he turns around. He sighs in frustration when Mako is nowhere to be found.

"Somebody has to nail that boy's fins to the floor."

Suddenly, one of Queen Lin's messenger sea horses comes up to him with a worried face.

"Tenzin! The Queen wishes to speak to you immediately! It's something about Mako!" Tenzin's heart plummets to the ground at the first thing that pops into his head.

"She knows!" he gasps worriedly.

.

.

.

When Tenzin reaches the palace, he's surprised to see a smiling Lin. It does nothing to ease his nerves. However, upon noticing him, her face becomes an emotionless mask. It was slightly hard to keep the façade, though. Earlier in the day she heard Hasook joking around about Mako having a guppy crush on a girl. The thought of her son finding his first love warmed her heart. She also found it quite amusing how Tenzin didn't mention this to her at all. It would certainly explain all the time he spends out of the palace.

"Come in Tenzin." He crawls slowly towards her, trying to prolong his death for as long as possible. When he reaches her, he opens his mouth a few times before words finally come out.

"Yes, Queen Lin?"

"Tenzin, I'm concerned about Mako. Have you noticed his behavior lately? Any changes?"

"Changes? Well, not really. I mean-" Tenzin pretends to act confused. Lin raises an eyebrow.

"Tenzin?" He cringes before looking up.

"Yes?"

"I know you're keeping something from me." Tenzin gulps.

"Keeping something?"

"About Mako..." Honestly, she didn't know why Tenzin refuses to tell her about Mako's crush. But she did know one thing; when Tenzin bursts he spills like an excited five-year old child.

"Mako?" Tenzin's legs begin to shake.

"In love..." she smirks. 3...2...1...

"I TRIED TO STOP HIM LIN! HE WOULDN'T LISTEN!" Tenzin wails. Lin only lets an amused smile grace her features as she listens to him babble on.

"I told him to stay away from humans. They are bad. They are trouble!" he continues. Lin's ears perk up at the one word.

"Humans?...WHAT ABOUT HUMANS?" She stands abruptly and sends a menacing glare at Tenzin. Tenzin, realizing his mistake, tries to compose himself again.

"Humans? Who said anything about humans?" Before he knows it, a hand clenches tightly around him as the Queen swims angrily away.

.

.

.

"Bolin, why can't you just tell me? What's got you all in a tizzy?" Mako asks as they swim through the entrance of his grotto.

"You'll see," he says cheekily. When they finally reach inside, Mako's jaw becomes slack as he stares at the new object in the middle of his grotto. The statue of Korra. Is. In. His grotto.

"Bo...How'd you?...This is amazing!" he exclaims as he swims around the figure. "It looks just like her!" He turns around to give his little brother a hug but stops dead when he sees the person looming over the entrance. His blood suddenly runs cold.

"Mom!" Bolin turns around and shivers with fear as he swims to hide in the shadows from his mother's imminent wrath.

"I consider myself a reasonable Merwoman," she growls. "I set certain rules and I expect those rules to be obeyed!" she continues to thunder. Mako looks on defiantly, refusing to show fear and submission.

"But Mom I -"

"Cut the garbage, Mako! Is it true you rescued a human from drowning?" she booms, but underneath, he could hear the heartache in his mother's voice.

"Mom I had to -"

"Contact between the human world and the Merworld is strictly forbidden! Mako, you know that! Everyone knows that!"

"She would've died!" he screams. How could his mom be so heartless?

"One less human to worry about!" she says turning around angrily.

"You don't even know her!"

"Know her?" she turns back around with a murderous glare, "I don't need to know her. They're all the same! Spineless, savage, harpooning, fish-eaters! Incapable of anything and -"

"Mom I LOVE HER!"

Silence.

Tenzin gasps and bites his pincer in anxious fear. Mako glares back at his mother without faltering, but on the inside, he's a total mess. What in Agni's sake did he just say? Did he really fall for her so hard as to admit something he didn't even know was true?

"No..." For a moment, genuine grief registers on his mother's face, but it quickly disappears. "Have you lost your senses completely? He's a human! You're a Merman!" she points with an accusing finger.

"I don't care!"

"So help me, Mako. I am going to get through to you! And if this is the only way...so be it!" she whispers the last words like venom, sending chills down Mako's spine. Before he knows what's going on, Lin earthbends a huge boulder and throws it against one of his treasures, smashing it to pieces.

"Mom!"

She throws another boulder at one of the many shelves.

"No!"

Again, one of his treasures blow up to the sound of shattering glass.

"No! Please!" At this point, Mako's past the tough outer façade. He'd beg if he had to! He needed to save his collection!

More items begin to break, some of its broken shards piercing his skin.

"Mom, STOP! Stop it!" He's had enough. Mako jets towards her and grabs both of her wrists, fighting hard to keep a firm grip on them. One of her wrists wriggle free and she smacks him hard across the cheek. He ignores the blinding pain and sees where her line of vision is pointed to. His statue.

"Mom, NO!" He swims up to her as fast as he can but reaches her a second too late. The boulder rises. And falls. The grotto is filled with the sound of explosions.

Mako is left dumbstruck. He doesn't yell. Or move. Or even cry. He stays still with wide eyes. His brain completely shuts down, trying vainly to process what just happened. Lin turns around but glances back to see her son's still figure. Her face softens to guilt before she swims away. It had to be done. She only wanted to protect him.

Tenzin, ashamed that he was partly to blame for the entire ordeal, tries to console him.

"Mako, I -"

"Leave me alone...Just, just go away," he says angrily, turning his back to him. Bolin comes up and hesitantly reaches out a hand before thinking better of it and doing as his brother says.

Mako feels like a part of him just died. It's like the connection he once had to the world above him is completely severed. Korra is...He can't even think about her now without feeling a piece of his heart shatter and fall, piercing him inside.

"Poor child."

"Poor sweet child."

His head snaps up at the unfamiliar voices, his guard instantly up as he sets his face into a hard defensive mask. He sees two eels slithering about him.

"He has a very serious problem," one of them comments.

"I don't have any problems!" he shouts slightly offended.

"If only there was something we could do," says the other, ignoring him.

"But there is something," quips his companion. Mako narrows his eyes in suspicion.

"Who are you?"

"Don't be scared."

"I'm not!" But secretly, he was.

"We know someone who can help you. Someone who can make all your dreams come true."

"Just imagine. You and your love. Together. Forever," one of them whispers in his ear. He doesn't even mind the slimy scales passing over his skin. Not when he's hearing such surreal news. It couldn't be true...could it?

"I don't understand."

"Amon, has great powers," whispers the other. Mako raises an eyebrow. He's seldom heard of this person. Rumors perhaps, things like Spirits granting someone some sort of power, something to do with bending. He often heard Hasook tease Bolin about the name and by his little brother's reaction, he had always assumed that it was some childhood boogeyman. Still, the question slips out of his mouth.

"Who's that?"

"The solution," the eels say simultaneously. Mako thinks it over. But what's there to think about. Here's his chance to see Korra again. This is his chance to be with her once more.

"Alright. I'll see Amon."

The eels smile.

Outside, Bolin and Tenzin are stuck in a pool of guilt.

"Poor Mako," Bolin says more to himself than Tenzin.

"I didn't mean to tell. It-It was an accident!"

Just then, they see Mako and two eels swim by. Tenzin swims up to Mako, not fond of the likes of the two sea creatures.

"Mako, what are you doing with these riff raffs?"

"I'm going to see Amon," he says indifferently before speeding away. Tenzin gasps in shock. Everyone in the kingdom knew of Amon. He was known for taking away people's bending and rumor has it that he has a whole army of non-bending Merpeople who he has trained as chi blockers to help him. If Mako goes to him...Tenzin didn't even want to think about it. How is it possible that Mako does not know the risk he is taking? Could it be that no one has told him about Amon when he entered the kingdom for the first time? Surely even as an urchin one would know of Amon, right?

"Mako, no! No, he's a demon! He's a monster!" Tenzin warns him, trying to pull him back by the fin. Mako turns around with a glare.

"Why don't you go tell my mom? You're good at that," he spits before swimming away. Tenzin's taken aback.

"But I..." He looks towards Bolin before swimming away determinedly. "Come on!" he growls at him.

.

.

.

Mako comes up to a large entrance very, very far from the kingdom's borders. He hesitates. The place radiates danger and an ominous aura of death. Sensing his hesitation, the eels turn around and beckon him.

"This way."

Determined, Mako swims through. Inside, though, horror unfolds. On the very walls of the cave are chained Merpeople, some who seem barely alive, others whose skin is beginning to rot away. His stomach clenches as he tastes the bile in his mouth. His first instinct is to run, but he restrains himself and swims deeper.

"Come in," he hears a gruff voice speak from around the corner. He takes a deep breath and swims up to see a masked Octoman, his tentacles waving in the water.

"I hear you have a particular interest in a very special human."

"She's special alright," he whispers with a small smile.

"But now, of course, the only practical way to get to her...is to become a human yourself," Amon says while going over to a shelf full of odd colored liquids he found in the Water Tribes' healer compounds.

Mako stares wide-eyed at the man who must be Amon.

"Can you do that?"

Amon smirks behind his mask.

"Why, it's what I do. My job is to help Merfolk like you and rid them of their problematic...impurities," he says picking out a potion and dropping it into his cauldron, causing the water to change color briefly. Mako watches in awe.

Meanwhile Tenzin and Bolin come to the cave's entrance. They enter cautiously, although Bolin's shaking uncontrollably.

"Now here's the deal," he adds another liquid to the cauldron, "I will give you a potion that will allow you to be human for seven days." He grabs Mako and pulls him to the cauldron. "Listen, this is the important part. Before the sun sets on the seventh day, you have to make this human fall in love with you." Both Lieutenant and Hiroshi give Amon confused looks.

"Which means, of course, she has to kiss you." Mako smiles at the thought. "But! It must be real and true. If it is, you will be able to live as a human forever. If not, you'll turn back into a Merman and...I will take away your bending."

"No, Mako -" Tenzin is silenced by the eels wrapping themselves around him tightly. Mako looks back surprised.

"Have we got a deal?" asks Amon as he picks up a shell from the shelf. Mako looks down at his hand as he feels the familiar warm buzz on his finger tips. He produces a few sparks of lightning between them. Would he really give up his own bending, his way of life, for a human he barely knows?

"If I become human, I'll never be with my mom or brothers again." Can he give up his family, the people who took him in without protest, for a human he probably has no chance with?

"True, but you'll have the girl. Isn't that what you really want?" Mako looks away, for the first time unsure of what he truly wants.

"Oh, and we still haven't discussed the subject of payment. You can't get something for nothing."

"But I don't have any -" he's silenced by a slimy tentacle.

"I'm not asking for much. All I need to make your dream happen is...your voice and the red cloth." Mako's taken aback. The thought of giving this man his voice isn't nearly as hard as giving him the red cloth that his dead father gave him.

"But my father gave me this," he touches the fabric gingerly, "and without my voice, how am I supposed to tell her who I am?"

"Humans have more than one way of communication. They use their entire bodies to show emotion and such. As for the cloth...love is costly, isn't it?"

Mako frowns. Is she really worth his last connection to his father? To the only thing that he truly feels utterly safe with?

"Go ahead and make your choice, boy. I'm a very busy man and I haven't got all day." He sets about throwing random liquids and objects into the cauldron, creating explosions of lights, but unlike the ones that came from the sky, these lights seem dark and foreboding.

"So, do we have a deal?"

Is she really worth it? Mako's brows furrow.

"Yes."

"Excellent." Amon grabs Mako's hand and in one swift motion, grabs a glass shard and pierces his palm, the blood dripping into the cauldron. The pain doesn't phase him although it's sharp and present.

"To seal the deal," Amon explains even though he had no need to. Mako already knew. Once everything was put into place, Amon issues one, sole command.

"Speak."

And he does. He talks about his wish to become human, to be able to interact with them. But most of all, he wants to be closer to Korra. And suddenly, he isn't speaking anymore, but a small glowing ball with his voice is floating towards Amon. He opens his mouth but no sound comes out. He watches in amazement as the small orb disappears into the shell Amon is holding.

Suddenly, a sharp pain pierces through his fin. He opens his mouth to cry out, but no sound is ushered. He feels as if his lower body is being torn in half as he writhes violently. Tears of pain begin to prick at his eyes. He can feel the fibers separating his fin in two. And just when he thinks he might die from the torture...it stops and he feels extremely cold. He tries to breathe but is met with a mouthful of salt water. He struggles trying to use his new limbs to swim but fails miserably.

Sensing his distress Bolin and Tenzin swim up to him and grab his arms, helping Mako swim up to the surface before he drowns. He barely has enough energy to keep moving as the freezing water seeps into his skin.

Finally, his head breaks through the surface and he takes in a big gulp of air, coughing up a bit of water. Exhausted he slumps against his brother as Bolin carries him to the shore.

.

.

.

"Amon, sir, what does that street rat falling in love have to do with capturing the Avatar?" asks Hiroshi.

"It doesn't."

"Then why...?"

"Because, it'll prove to be a very useful distraction, giving me enough time while I set my plan into motion. But I need you and Lieutenant to make sure that it stays just that, a distraction."

The eels nod and swim off to do their tasks.

.

.

.

Korra wakes up early in the morning and heads out to the shore by her palace. She plays a tune her mother once taught her when she was younger while she leans against one of the towers closest to the sand. Naga is busy splashing around in the water trying to catch fish. Despite the peaceful environment, Korra's mind keeps turning tirelessly.

"That boy...I can't get him out of my head." Naga comes out of the water and walks around her. Korra places a hand on her companion's head.

"I've looked everywhere, Naga. Where could he be?"

.

.

.

Bolin and Tenzin pant heavily once they finally reach shallow waters. Mako is not a light Merman, or man, now. Mako, on the other hand, has completely recovered from his exhaustion and stares wide-eyed at his new limbs. He lifts one out of the water and wiggles the toes at the end of it, head cocked to the side in amazement, a smile playing on his lips.

"Mako!" shouts Ikki from above as she lands, along with her other siblings, on Mako's leg. She rubs her chin with a raised eyebrow. "There's something different about you." Mako smiles proudly.

"Don't tell me. It's your head? You've been using the dinglehopper!" Mako shakes his head.

"Is it your arms?" asks Jinora. Again, Mako shakes his head.

"I gotta poo! Really bad!" shouts Meelo as he waddles around trying to hold it in. Mako immediately shakes the young sea gull off his leg in disgust.

"He has legs for Republic City's sake! He traded his voice and his father's cloth and got legs!" Tenzin shouts exasperated.

"I knew that," the three of them say in unison. Bolin starts to explain the terms and conditions of Mako's current state to the sea gulls.

"And he's only got seven days!" Tenzin despairs after Bolin finishes. Meanwhile, Mako tries to stand and takes a shaky step before his legs buckle and he falls back into the water with a splash.

"Just look at him! On legs! On human legs!" he points at Mako's fallen form. Fear grips Tenzin at that moment. "My nerves are shot. This is a catastrophe! What would his mother say? I'll tell you what his mother would say," he grabs Bolin by the cheeks harshly, "She'd say she's going to kill herself a crab! That's what his mother would say!" He lets go of Bolin and begins to descend from the rock he's perched on. "I'm going to march myself straight home and tell her..." Mako, overhearing the conversation, picks up Tenzin in his hands and shakes his head desperately.

"And don't you shake your head at me, young man!" he points an accusing pincer. "Maybe there's still time. If I can get Amon to give you back your voice and red cloth, you can go home with all the normal fish and just be...and just be..." he sees Mako's grief-stricken face and trails off guiltily. "Just be miserable for the rest of your life." Tenzin shakes his head, ashamed at himself for thinking of taking away this boy's true happiness. He sighs.

"Alright, alright, alright. I'll try to help you find that girl." Mako's face instantly lights up and he crushes Tenzin against his chest in a hug before setting him down.

"Now, Mako, if you want to be a human, you have to dress like one," says Jinora while she grabs a bag of a long ago sunken ship from the shore. She dumps the contents out to see it filled with different kinds of human clothes, all tattered and ripped. She picks one out and hands it over to him.

"Here, I've seen a lot of male humans put this on their legs." Mako takes it and slips his legs through it. It's a bit large on him around the waist and he uses a nearby rope to tie it securely on his hips.

On the other side of the shore, Korra walks along the water with Naga, still thinking about the mysterious boy who rescued her. Suddenly, Naga's nose perks up into the air, sniffing deeply. She barks excitedly and runs around Korra repeatedly.

"Naga?" And she's off.

"Naga!" Korra struggles to catch up to her friend as she races across the sand.

Mako and the others hear barking, and Bolin hides behind a protruding rock from the water. Mako sees the giant polar bear dog he once saw on the ship bounding towards him and he struggles to get away. He trips once and falls, still not used to his new legs. By the time he gets up again, he's backed up against the rock face of the cliff above him as the dog barks around him. The creature licks his face and he smiles in slight amusement before he hears the voice he's been longing to hear since he first heard it.

"Naga!" He sees her come from around the rock outcropping. "Naga!" When she finally spots her dog, she tries to control her, but the dog is much to hyper for such a thing. "Quiet, Naga. What's gotten into you, girl?" She looks up in the direction the polar bear dog runs away to and emits a surprised 'Oh' at the sight before her. Standing awkwardly is a very handsome boy with beautiful amber eyes that could easily resemble the color of fire on a starry night. She blushes at the sight of his broad, muscular chest and his dampened hair. The sun gleams off the water droplets that still clung to him. Korra recovers from her daze and walks over to him.

"Are you okay, sir?" She grabs Naga around the neck and tries to pull her away. "Sorry about that. She's harmless, really." She looks up and is met with smiling golden eyes, silencing her momentarily. She narrows hers in confusion. Somehow, she's met him before, she just can't remember where.

"You seem...very familiar to me. Have we met?" She sees him smile and nod. Naga comes up between them and barks excitedly as Korra pushes her away.

"So we have met?" Again she receives a smile and a nod. Naga comes up and pushes Korra forward, causing her to fall flush against Mako. Both blush sheepishly at the sudden contact and Korra glares at Naga as she pushes herself off from him. Mako wishes she hadn't, though, and had to fight off the urge to wrap his arms around her. Korra looks pensive for a moment before her eyes light up.

"It's you! You're the one who saved me! What's your name?" she asks excitedly before she takes his hand and pulls him along the sand as he stumbles behind her, intent on showing Toza that she wasn't crazy, that a boy actually did save her from the storm.

Mako opens his mouth and forms his name with his lips, but no sound comes out. His heart plummets when he remembers he can't speak.

"What's wrong? What is it?" Korra asks him, noticing his sullen expression. Mako pats his throat, hoping she would understand.

"You can't talk? Speak?" He shakes his head. The glimmer in Korra's eyes disappears and Mako hates himself for it.

"Oh...then you, couldn't be who I thought," Korra looks away. She could still hear the voice that murmured her name whispering softly in her ear. She hears Naga whine as she pushes her forward onto Mako again.

"Naga! Enough, girl," she pushes her away. Mako rolls his eyes. At this rate he'll never be able to get her to fall in love with him. An idea suddenly pops into his head. He begins to motion with his hand towards his throat and switching to making water-like movements, all to which Korra guesses incorrectly. Mako tries taking a few steps forward trying to use his legs to emphasize his point but ends up falling on top of a very surprised Korra.

"Hey! What are...you..." Her face softens into an amused smile eventually turning into a slight chuckle as she sees the terrified but apologetic look in Mako's face. He scrambles to get off her before she helps him stand up again, offering her shoulder to support some of his weight.

"Wow, you must have really been through something. Don't worry. Come on!" She walks away with him towards the palace. Mako smiles and looks back at Bolin, who gives him a big thumbs up, and Ikki, Meelo, and Jinora who wave back at him happily.

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Once Mako enters the palace he is greeted by the man whom he saw was with Korra on the ship. He introduced himself as Toza and upon seeing his haggard appearance, quickly called for a an older looking woman he refered to as Katara who then ushered him to a wash room. And now he finds himself in a small tub being scrubbed down to the bone as he examines the strange bubbles of soap. He picks one up in his hand before it pops in his face, causing him to flinch in surprise.

"Washed up from a shipwreck. Oh the poor thing," he hears her say before she empties a bucket of water on his head. "We'll have you feeling better in no time."

Tenzin pokes his head out from the pocket of Mako's tattered pants. He slipped in there earlier to keep a close eye on the boy but finds himself ducking back in when he feels the woman grab the cloth.

"I'll just...wash this for you," she smiles kindly at Mako. She walks away and dumps the pants into a small wash basin, Tenzin included. He sputters and coughs at the soapy water before he's plunged back under it. The women washing the laundry are unaware of him as they continue to gossip about.

"Well you must have at least heard about this boy."

"No, he just turned up out of nowhere." Tenzin is tossed over onto another hand and is rubbed furiously down an odd, bumpy, metal plank. Right after, he's tossed on a wringer. He tries to get away from the crushing machine, but his legs get tangled in the fabric and he's flattened to a pulp between the double rollers. He lands in a basket full of other clothes before he's hung on a rope to dry with the pants.

"Well, he must've come from somewhere. I mean, really, he just shows up with Princess Korra. If he's looking for a girl I know a couple of single ones right here."

The rope begins to move and Tenzin hops out onto a table, thankful that the physical torment is over. And that's when the mental torture begins. Tenzin looks up to see fish butchered, cooking in a boiling pot, and the most horrifying of all...crabs in a salad. He's landed right in the human kitchen! That's the last thought that passes through his mind before he faints from terror.

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"Korra, put you head on straight. Men don't go around rescuin' people at sea and then running off to who knows where. You sure you didn't drink more than you should have? I mean -"

"I'm telling you, Toza, he was real!" she says with a determined expression on her face before turning back around to face the window. "And I'm gonna find him." Korra looks up when she hears Katara giggling at the door frame.

"No, this way child."

Mako steps through the door frame, the sight of him making Korra blush furiously. His hair is combed back and he's dressed in a dark gray suit. The pointed collar shirt underneath his vest has the last button open, revealing a glimpse of his collarbone. The outfit is completed with dark gray pants and black shoes. Mako walks over to her with a smirk, not missing the dumb struck expression on her face. Toza notices as well and chuckles after making a dirty comment on teenagers and hormones. Korra soon snaps out of her trance and composes herself in her usual cocky manner.

"Well you clean up nicely, Cool Guy," she says with one eyebrow raised, smirk playing on her lips, and arms crossed over her chest. Mako smiles broadly at the compliment before he's ushered over to the enormous dining table. He sits down across from Korra. Mako looks around the table and spots the dinglehopper. But no one's using it to comb their hair. Odd. He then notices Toza with a snarfblat in his mouth and, unable to control himself among so many human things, grabs it and blows as hard as he can, hoping to make some sort of musical sound. Instead, black powder explodes onto Toza's unamused face. Korra doubles over in laughter at the act.

"That's the first time I've seen you smile in weeks," says Katara coming up beside Korra. Mako smiles at her, happy to be the reason why she's laughing.

"Yeah, what's to eat?" Toza grumbles while wiping the soot off his annoyed face.

"Well hopefully something to smack some manners into you," Katara says pointedly. "Chef Saikhan's making his specialty, though. Stuffed crab."

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Tenzin awakens from his unconscious state and immediately scrambles to hide behind a large pot. He pokes his head from behind it to see who he assumed to be the chef, twirling about with a bowl of fish in hand. He hears him humming a tune as he takes out a knife and cuts one of the fish's head off. Tenzin bites his claws in fear. He then witnesses him pulling out the bones and Tenzin almost loses his midday lunch. Now set on getting out of such a horrid place, he scurries off only to be met with the eyes of a dead fish head that landed in front of him.

The cook continues to sing about while tossing the meat of the fish into the boiling pot. Tenzin spots a nearby lettuce leaf and dives under it, hoping not to be seen by the cook as he slowly crawls away. No such luck. The cook reaches over for the lettuce and finds him cowering in his shell. He picks up Tenzin and starts twirling him about in his joyous mood. Tenzin, however, has never been more terrified in his life, his heart pounding ninety miles a minute. Chef Saikhan tosses him into a bowl of sauce and Tenzin pops his head out of his shell incredulously. He sneezes when he's splashed with flour and hides away back in his shell when the cook begins to stuff him with greens. Tenzin spits the vegetation out, finally able to breathe.

Tenzin is then tossed into the air, aimed directly for the boiling pot. He catches himself on the rim in the nick of time and hops out when the water burns him. He lands with a tap on the cutting board, bringing about the cook's attention. Once again he ducks inside his shell as cook grabs him and pulls him close to his face for examination.

"What is this?"

Tenzin snaps his claws over his nose.

The cook shouts in pain, sending Tenzin flying over to the edge of another boiling pot. Enraged, the cook reaches for him, but Tenzin hops out of the way. He instead burns his hand on the stove, eliciting another howl of pain from him. The pot then falls on his foot and he's hopping about on one leg while holding his foot with his hands. He whips around to his knives and pulls all of them out.

Tenzin hops around like a maniac, using a bit of airbending to help him along, trying to avoid the knives being thrown at him. He quickly dives under a table as the cook quickly follows, nostrils flared and eyes wide with unkempt rage. Thinking quickly, Tenzin airbends himself over to the top of the table and pushes a bowl of sauce onto the cook's head. He's not amused. He growls in frustration and brings up his butchering knife and slams it down on the table, cutting it into two perfect halves. But the crab isn't there. He searches around until he sees him crawling rapidly away. Saikhan throws his butcher knife to block its path. Tenzin stops dead in his tracks and runs away in the opposite direction, zooming past the cook's legs with airbending, and up onto a shelf. Saikhan runs madly after him and dives headfirst with a cry into it, causing the whole thing to shatter, break, and fall.

The commotion is loud enough to be heard in the dining hall. Upon hearing the sudden crash, Katara looks up from her arranging plates.

"I think I should check on Saikhan," she excuses herself before walking off towards the kitchen. Inside, Saikhan is throwing about plates and pans everywhere in his mad search to find that troublesome crab. His entire kitchen is a mess; sea food, glass, and wood everywhere.

"Saikhan!" He bumps his head into a shelf and pulls away, barely missing the butcher knife that fell to the floor.

"What are you doing?" Katara scolds. He fumbles for an excuse before muttering an apology. Katara sends him a disapproving look before taking the platter of food with her to the dining area.

"You know, ya could show the young lad around the place," Toza says to Korra while smoking his pipe. Korra, who was having a leg kicking battle underneath the table with her guest (he started it!), looks up confused.

"What?" Toza sighs in annoyance.

"Would you stop fantasizing about the boy! Honestly, you have to do something other than mopin' 'bout someone who doesn't exist! Go outside or somethin'..." Toza begins to whisper harshly to Korra as he lifts the lid from his platter of food. Mako is surprised to see a very terrified Tenzin underneath. He motions with his pincer to keep quiet and Mako opens the lid of his platter so Tenzin can sneak his way over to him safely.

"Alright, alright, get off my case already," Korra huffs. By the time she turns back to Mako, Tenzin is safely hidden away in his platter of food.

"So, you wanna hang around town for a bit tomorrow?" Korra asks. Mako, trying to look cool, shrugs with a casual smile.

"I'll take that as a yes."

"Great!" Toza claps and rubs his hands together, "Now enough with the chit-chat. This old man's gotta eat!"

Sadly, there were no seasoned crabs in sight.

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Night feels so much more different up in the surface than it does underwater. Sure, Mako's poked his head up a few times, but it doesn't compare to having a warm breeze ruffle through his human clothes or smelling the sweet fragrance of the different vegetation below the railing of his balcony where he is currently sitting.

Or seeing the girl he's fallen for playing around with her Polarbear Dog.

He couldn't stop the smile from adorning his face when Naga tackled her to the ground. He watched as Korra finally got out from under Naga's massive weight and began rubbing her companion's head, a chuckle escaping her. However, Mako did not count on Korra looking up and waving up at him with a smile. Startled that she had caught him staring, he promptly fell off his perch on the railing and onto the balcony floor. He heard her laugh and stood up quickly, trying to pretend like the incident never happened before sheepishly waving back and entering his room.

Inside, Tenzin ranted on about how horrible his day was, but Mako heard none of it as his thoughts brought him back to Korra, about the entire day that he'll spend with her and only her.

"...I hope that you appreciate what I go through for you, young man!," Tenzin tells him sternly, but when he sees Mako already splayed out on his bed fast asleep, his gaze softens as well as his voice. He walks over across the dresser he's perched on and blows out the candle before crawling over to Mako and brushing a strand of hair away from his eyes, much like a father would do to his son.

"You are hopeless, Mako. Completely hopeless," he whispers lovingly to the boy he thinks of as his own.

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Beneath the surface of the sea, a distraught mother gazes out a coral window. A sea-horse hurriedly swims up to her.

"Any sign of them?" Lin asks, worry clearly etched on her face.

"No, Your Highness. We've searched everywhere. We found no trace of your son or Tenzin," he replies tiredly. Lin's brows knit together in frustration.

"Well keep looking! Leave no shell unturned, no coral unexplored! Let no one in this Kingdom sleep until he's safe at home!" she barks turning away to sit on her throne, too exhausted to stay afloat anymore. With a dismissive bow, the sea horse leaves to continue through the sleepless night.

She was too harsh, too cold. It was all her fault. She overreacted and now she's paying the price. Lin didn't care if Mako loved a human or not at this point. Although she'll never admit it to anyone, she just wanted her little boy home.

"What have I done?," she places a hand on her aching temples, "What have I done?"

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The next morning, Mako was having trouble sitting still while Katara tried to help dress him (he's still not used to the layers of clothing these humans wear). Every time he heard Korra's voice he would jump up and search in the direction it came from, not caring that only one of his legs was in his pants and one arm in his shirt. Katara would chuckle at the comical sight before chiding him to sit still while she finished. At this rate he'll become just like Naga.

Finally, after many struggles with his lack of focus, Katara settled on just leaving him with a simple pair of pants, where Tenzin was hidden in one of the pockets, and a blue button down shirt with brown boots. Mako found Korra waiting for him on top of Naga. He was a bit apprehensive at the thought of riding such a huge animal and Korra took notice of his hesitation.

"What's the matter? Afraid of a Polarbear Dog, Cool Guy?" she teased. Mako glared at her before pushing his fear aside and climbing onto Naga's back. A few seconds later they were trotting off into town. Mako was amazed at all the sights and sounds of the surface world. Their first stop was the Town Square which was bustling with activity, from puppet shows for the children to market stands filled with fruits and other delicious foods. They hopped off Naga and walked around for a bit.

Suddenly Korra took Mako by the hand.

"C'mon. I wanna show you-Ow!" She quickly retracted her hand and rubbed her sore palm. Mako flushed, embarrassed. He hadn't expected the sudden contact between their hands and it triggered a spark of lightning from his fingertips. But much to his confusion, Korra didn't seem peeved. She was actually smiling!

"You're a lightningbender?"

Mako nodded with a small smile, hoping he was doing something right for once. Her action was the answer he wished for.

"Neat! After I show you our first order of business, you're gonna show me a few moves, Mr. Hat Trick," she said excitedly as she pulled him along. Mako couldn't help the goofy smile that crossed his face.

"Alright, here's the deal. You can't let anyone know that we've been here, especially not Toza!" Korra told him sternly as they rushed through what Mako saw to be the 'bad' side of town. It wasn't much different here than underwater. Same filth, same drunks, and so on. He should know. He's lived in this sort of place long before Queen Lin found him. They take a sharp turn between two shops and end up in what seemed like a street ring. A small crowd of people stood both outside and inside a weak fence made of mesh, cheering on two fighters inside the ring. At first Mako thought that it was a weird form of pro-bending, but after he saw the kinds of attacks used with the addition of surrounding objects, he knew that this was far more dangerous.

There were two men in the middle of the ring, one of which was seriously hurt, practically covered in blood. His opponent was an earthbender with a long jagged scar running from his right eyebrow down his glazed eye and across his broad chest. He punched the air, sending an enormous boulder towards his opponent. In the nick of time, the other male side-stepped and a blaze of fire shot out from his left hand, catching his opponent's blind side. The earthbender howled in pain from the burns. Although he was practically coughing up blood, the firebender took his chance to tackle him to the ground and beat at his face mercilessly with blazing fists. The crowd went wild.

Once the firebender finished his furious onslaught of attacks, a bell was rung. He stumbled a bit before he could stand up properly, leaving his convulsing opponent's face a burnt mess. Mako could smell the wretched scent of burning flesh and had to push down his breakfast.

"Pretty wild, huh?" Korra nudged his side with her elbow as the crowd cheered on the winner. "But you ain't seen nothing yet." Mako looked at her incredulously, but she only laughed. After a few people dragged the unconscious earthbender away and the clearing was once again empty, a young man, probably the same age as Mako stood at the center. He was tall and his blue-gray eyes matched his cocky smirk perfectly along with a mop of black hair on the side of his face. He gave the firebender a pouch of what sounded like coins before he turned to the crowd.

"You smell that?" he said, mockingly holding his nose, "Wait, I know what that is; yeah, that's the scent of a loser! Am I right folks?" The crowd roared. "Alright who's next for the prize of 5,000 yuans?"

"Right here, Tahno!" To Mako's complete and utter horror, Korra's the one who spoke up.

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A/N: Next chapter is most likely rated T because of gore. That's all I'm giving you guys ^.^ Oh! And to help compensate for the long wait, I'm trying to broaden my writing to other pairings. So feel free to leave me prompts via Review or PM me about Korrasami, Makorra, Borra, Bosami, or Irohsami. Praise as well as Critique is accepted.


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